Chicagoan raises tens of thousands for charities while biking or walking

Desmond Campbell is a marathon man who has traveled miles and miles — many of them by foot, some of them by bike and quite a few of them while virtually standing still. During the course of his travels, he has helped people in extraordinary ways.

I'll start at the beginning.

Campbell, 68, grew up in a small town on the northwest coast of Ireland. He moved to Chicago in early 1964 and took a job as an elevator operator working the overnight shift at the Palmer House Hotel. It was a time when the Empire Room was in full swing.

He was shy and quiet at first, with a thick Irish brogue that seemed to trip up his tongue. But soon he realized that within the close confines of his elevator, he could meet people with whom he'd never ordinarily cross paths: Phyllis Diller, Jimmy Durante, Tony Bennett.

"I even had the Rolling Stones in my elevator one night in September 1965," Campbell said. "It was everybody except Mick Jagger."

But a few months later, when the hotel's elevators went automatic, he got a new job working as an elevator operator in the 18-story First National Bank of Chicago building on Dearborn Street. Not long afterward, the bank moved to a 60-story building down the street, where he worked as an "elevator starter," standing in the lobby directing people to waiting cars.

Soon he was rubbing elbows with some of Chicago's elite — high-powered attorneys from prestigious law firms, CEOs.

He also met political types and their bodyguards who entered the back of the building to avoid the press or protesters. Campbell shuttled them up the freight elevator to the private clubs on the top floors.

As the years passed, he built relationships. The longer the ride up and down an elevator, or the longer the wait in the lobby for one, the more opportunity he had to chat.

In 1978, Campbell was working in the lobby when a young man walked in and said that his wife had multiple sclerosis. The man told Campbell that he was riding his bike in the 100-mile National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Bike 'N' Hike to raise money for a cure for the disease. He wanted Campbell to sponsor him.

"His story touched my heart," Campbell said. "I said give me the sponsor form. I started asking people in front of our 16 elevators if they would sponsor me. Most people knew me and liked me and gave me money."

But Campbell felt guilty because he knew he wasn't the one who was going to be riding the bike. So 10 days before the event, he got his own sponsor form and signed up to ride. Although he only completed 89 miles, he raised $1,100, the second highest amount of any participant.

The next year, he rode his bike again, raising $3,800. He participated two more years, raising thousands more.

"I won a trip to the Caribbean," he said. "Then I won a trip to St. Thomas. I won furniture and stereos."

But by the mid-1980s, most charities stopped offering extravagant prizes.

"I wouldn't dare stop," he said. "I loved to watch people's faces light up when I handed over a check."

So, the years passed. He participated in small races, raising pretty impressive sums. In 1998 and 1999 he hiked the 155-mile Pilgrims' Trail to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. For the two years, he said he raised another $38,500 on behalf of multiple sclerosis.

"Our coordinator remembered that (Campbell) got most of his donations while riding the elevator," said the foundation's Sharon Tatom Garcia. "In all, he raised about $30,000 for us. Amazing."

Although a bike injury would sideline Campbell for a couple of years, he returned to fundraising in 2005 power-walking the Chicago Marathon and raising thousands of dollars on behalf of a liver disease charity. Next, he hiked the Grand Canyon, raising $23,000 to fight leukemia and lymphoma.

And in 2008, one marathon in October wasn't enough so he power-walked two within a couple of weeks of one another — one was in Chicago, the other in Dublin. The next year he did double duty again.

These days, Campbell, who by the way never learned how to drive, works two jobs: five days at the bank and weekends as a doorman in a downtown condo building. He lifts weights during the week, and on Saturdays, he walks for 10 miles along the lakefront before beginning his eight-hour shift. Afterward, he walks for another 11 miles.

Next month, Campbell will participate in the Chicago Marathon. He's then off again to the one in Dublin. As if that's not enough, he'll travel in November to California for the Big Sur half-marathon. He's raising money for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Junior Adapted Sports program, which offers recreational activities for kids with disabilities.

He hopes to raise $50,000. Learn more at ric.org/campbell.

Trent Thenhaus, the institute's adapted sports and recreation coordinator, told me that he's never met anyone so passionate about giving to others.

"He doesn't get paid to do it," Thenhaus said. "He's just a spectacular individual."

Campbell said he's completed each of the 26.2-mile marathons and his best time has been nearly five hours and 40 minutes. Afterward, he always takes an ice bath for 15 to 20 minutes, which gets him ready for work the next morning.

He is called the ambassador and concierge of the lobby.

"People ask me where I get so much energy," he said. "It's always from new donations. They light me up like a Christmas tree."